The Travel Connection

Until recently Sattal was just another town in Uttarakhand. The influx of tourists especially the birders, is turning the place into one more popular hill station on the Himalayas. No, it's not pristine and peaceful and middle of no where. But one can enjoy a kayak ride surrounded by lush green hills without many buildings or hawkers in sight. That is saying a lot considering the pollution of all sorts that surround almost all lakes in India. At 1370 m relatively lower compared to Pangot, Sattal is small in size but big in its avian attraction.  The ecology of  this district makes it an oasis for the 500 odd species of birds migratory or otherwise. The many birding outings I have been on generally involved driving, hiking or boating. Now imagine ring side seats for Cirque du Soleil of the avian world. Set amidst oak and pine trees on the surrounding rolling hills and the stage designed along a little stream with twigs, offshoot branches, is like none other. Withou...

Gangtok  at a height of 4700 ft is on lower Himalayan ranges. It's a dense town with small roads and 5 storey concrete boxes packed next to each other. The hub of the town for tourism is the M G road. It is traffic free in the evenings and has its souvenir shops, cafes and the other tourist nick nacks. It is an eco friendly city as plastic is banned.The city is doing its best to promote local tourism by having a flower show and handicrafts museum and view points in and around the town.                                                                                   ...

A grey morning greeted us on the third day. I was looking forward to this day as i wanted to see the kanchenjunga ranges. But the chances of that happening was minimal. Hey, the glass is always half full as the day turned out to be a blessing in disguise. By the third day, it was certain that our driver Prem's daily chant was rock star songs. Even though i had given him a bunch of Cds on the first day, he continued to play songs from rock star morning in and evening out. Initially i didn't think the songs were hummable but it grew on me. Believe it or not , i am so tempted to go pick a CD now so that i can follow in Prem's footsteps. Prem who had kept to himself the first two days turned stones when we started our journey towards North Sikkim. We were passing through isolated stretches of North Sikkim highway and he started on his fascinating story. It was difficult to understand his Hindi with a nepali/ pahadi accent. The first round , I assumed that I...